Slat cleaner



v. c. WEBB ET'AL Marh 9, 19:43.

SLAT CLEANER Filed Oct. 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l /nyentorsf March 9, 1943. v. c. WEBB ETAL SLA'J.A CLEANER Filed Oct. 5, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 2 Inventors: Venara C. Webb ./ya P Spar/ns WW zzorney Patented Mar. 9, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE SLATl CLEANER Venard C. Webb and Alva P. Sparks, Denver, Colo.

Application October 5, 1940, Serial No. 359,824

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means and apparatus for the cleaning of long, thin, relatively narrow elements, such as Venetian blind slats, and the like, and has as an object to provide an improved machine wherethrough such elements may be automatically fed for complete and thorough cleansing thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved unitary assembly of elements constituting a complete slat cleaner automatically operable to deliver thoroughly cleaned slats after a single traverse through the apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved multi-stage cleaning machine wherein slats may be progressively washed, scrubbed, rinsed, dried, and polished during a single and continual traverse of such elements therethrough.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved slat cleaner that is substantially automatic in operation throughout the entire cycle of steps necessary to thoroughly clean slatlike elements.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved slat cleaner that is relatively simple and inexpensive of manufacture, installation, and operation, that is compact in form, positive and eiiicient in use, readily adjustable to efciently handle slats of various sizes and specific finishes, and that requires little maintenance throughout long periods of practical use.

Our invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in our claims, andn illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the improved cleaner as assembled ready for practical use, certain portions being broken away to conserve space. Figure 2 is an elevation showing the opposite side of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1, certain portions being broken away to conserve space. Figure 3 is a top plan view of the showing of Figure 1. Figure 4 is a cross section, on an enlarged scale, taken longitudinally of the apparatus on the indicated line B--li of Figure 3.

The various elements of the apparatus are associated with, carried by, and grouped within and about a relatively long, preferably rectanguiar, tank-like housing or box I which is suitably supported on a rack or table II with its bottom substantially horizontal. The box I0 is divided by means of suitable transverse partitions or bailles i2 into a plurality of intercommunicating compartments, in this instance six in number, successively designated by the letters A, B, C, D,

E and F. The top of the box I0 is constructed to permit (of convenient access to the interior of the compartments and preferably is arranged to facilitate inspection of the compartment interior during the operation of the apparatus, to which end the otherwise open top of the box I0 may be normally closed by means oi glass plates I3 resting against and supported by the upper ends of the partitions I2 and box end members. The end members of the box I0 and the partitions I2 are formed with relatively narrow transverse slots I4 extending substantially across the widths of said members and disposed in registering alignment longitudinally of the box adjacent the midpoint of the Ibox depth, said slots cooperating 'to provide a straight passageway wherethrough slat members may .be fed into, through and outwardly of the -box I0 and the compartments therein. For convenience in adjusting the feed of slats to the box Ill, the effective width of the slot I4 at the feed end of said box may be varied by means of a vertically-adjustable plate I5 disposed on the outer face of the box end beneath and for adjustment upwardly into partially covering relation with the corresponding slot I4.

Any suitable arrangement of means may be provided to initially feed slat elements to the box Ill, one arrangement suitable for such purpose being illustrated in the drawings as including a vertically-adjustable table I6 horizontally disposed exteriorly of and adjacent the feed end of the box I0, the fulcrum support of said table being shown as an adjustable jack member I1 adjacent the end of said table remote from the box I0, and the free end of said table adjacent said box being supported by an extensible assembly I8 wherein an expansive spring or equivalent A cylindrical exterior surface having a high frictional coefficient and is disposed with its lowermost point tangent to a line passing through the slots I4 so that when the extensible member I8 acts to urge thevstack of slats I9 on the table IB upwardly into engagement with the lower side of the roll 20, rotation of said roll in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 4 acts to slide the topmost slat or slats i9 relative to the underlying slats and thereby feed the slats successively through the adjacent slot I4 and into the first compartment of the box I0. The roll 23 may conf veniently be covered with sponge rubber or similar The slat or slats I3 fed by the roll 2l through the slot I4 of the box end is first engaged within the compartment A between a pair of friction rollers 23 joumaled for rotation in superposed, peripherally-contacting relation transversely of the box I3 adjacent the initial feed slot I4. The friction rollers 23 may be of any speolilc construction suitable to their function, which is to yieldably and frictionally engage the sl'at or slats I3 for further feeding thereof longitudinally along the box III, and said rollers may conveniently be sponge rubber cylinders and thereby adapted to yield for the accommodation of slats of varying thicknesses while continuing to maintain adequate frictional engagement with the slat surfaces. Since it is the function of the rollers 23 togfeed the slat elements along the box I3, said rollers are power driven to rotate in the direc,

tion indicated by the arrows in Figure 4. The compartment A of the box I Il is the washing and scrubbing compartment of the apparatus, and is provided with spray heads 24 suitably disposed to direct a fine spray of cleansing solution against the upper and lower surfaces of the slats I9 as they emerge inwardly of the box I from between the rollers 23, said` spray heads 24 communicating through suitable valved pipes 23 with a pressurefeed supply of cleansing solution indicated at 23. As will be apparent, any suitable system or arrangement of means for the pressure feeding of cleansing solution to and through the pipes 2l may be employed, it being immaterial to the operation of the machine whether the solution be pumped for discharge through the heads 24, be fed by gravity to said heads, or be forced to said discharge through the application of air under pressure to a supply tank. After the slats I8 have been subjected to spray of cleansing solution from the heads 24, said slats are engaged between a pair of scrubbing rolls 21 journaled for rotation transversely of the box I0 in close peripheral adjacency and power driven in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 4. 'I'he rolls 21 are preferably of bristle type and rotate at a peripheral speed greater than that of the rollers 23, thereby acting to thoroughly brush and scrub both surfaces and edges of the slats I! in the presence vof the cleansing solution sprayed thereagainst. Ihe partition I2 formingthe inner wall of the compartment A .acts as a baille to minimize entrance of cleansing fluid into the compartment B, and cleansing solution collecting in the lower portion of the compartment A is per- .mitted .to drain therefrom through an opening 23 in the bottom of said compartment and into a collecting pan 29 whence it escapes through a drain 30 for return to the original supply through suitable filtering and clarifying means (not shown) or is otherwise disposed of as may be most expedient or desirable.

Slats acted upon by the rolls 21 are fed by the rollers 23 through the opening I4 in the partition between the compartments A and B and are engaged within the compartment B between eseee'nd pair of scrubbing reus 21 rotatably disposed transversely of the box I3 and power driven to rotate in directions opposed to the direction of travel of the slats, the slat surfaces thus being thoroughly scrubbed a second time and in a di- .v rection opposite to that of the first scrubbing.-

The compartment Bis provided with spray heads 3l arranged to discharge fluid, in this ease a rinsing solution or clear water, against the upper and lower surfaces of the slats I 3 as said slats emerge from between the second set of scrubbing rolls 21, amd said heads 3| are suitably connected with a source of supply of rinsing fluid or water in a manner hereinafter more fully set forth. Openings are provided through the lower portion of the first partition I2 so that fluid from the compartment B may pass into the compartment A for escape from the box III in the manner above set forth.

Still under the feeding influence of the rollers 23, the slats Il are fed through the slot I4 in the partition I2 between the compartment B and C and between wipers 32, of squeegee type, disposed on each side of said-partition in yieldabie closing relation with the slot I4 therein and arranged to remove most of the fluid adhering to the slats. 'I'he compartment C contains a second set of friction rollers 23 positioned to engage and continue the feed of the slats I3 before said slats are released from between the first set of rollers 23, the rollers 23 within the compartment C obviously being power driven at a speed and in a direction corresponding with that of the nrst set of friction rollers.

The slats n leave the compartment c through the slot I4 in the partition I2 between the compartment; C and D and are again subjected to Y the action of a duplicate set of wipers 32 carried by said partition, any liquid removed from the slats by the wipers 32 passing through openings in the bottom of the partitions I2 for escape of the box I0 in the manner described in connection with the cleansing and rinsing solutions.

Compartment D houses a pair of drying rolls 33 similar in all essential respects to the scrubbing rolls 21 and power driven to brush the surface of the slats I9 in a direction opposite to that of the slat travel, and thereby remove moisture adhering to the slat surfaces. From the rolls 33 the slats pass through the slot I4 in the partition between the compartments D and E and are acted upon within the compartment E by a second set of drying rolls 33, power driven to act on the slat surfaces in a direction opposite to that of the slat travel. The rolls 33 in the compartment E may be utilized, when desired, for polishing of the slat surfaces, it being a simple matter to feed suitable polish to the roll or slat surfaces in a common and well-known manner. The rolls 33 in the compartments D and E are effective to thoroughly dry the slat surfaces, thus completing the cleaning operation thereon, and the slats are fed through the slot I4 in the partition between the compartment E and F to a final set of feed rolls 23 operatively disposed in the compartment F and effective to continue the travel of the cleaned slats through the slot I4 in the end wall of the box III and discharge said slats from the cleaning apparatus for collection in a hopper 34 adjoining the rear end of the machine.

'Ihe various rolls and rollers of the apparatus may be connected for power actuation in the directions indicated in any suitable specific manner, it being necessary that the feed roll 20 and friction rollers 23 be operated at a uniform peripheral speed, which requires positive driving dividually driven at a peripheral speed in excess oi that of the roll 20 and rollers 23. Inthe drawings, an arrangement effective for power drive of the rolls 21 and 33 is shown in Figure 1 as disposed on one side of the apparatus. and a drive for the roll 20 and rollers 23 is shown in Figure 2 as disposed on the other side of the apparatus. Referring to Figure l, the shafts supporting the rolls 21 and 33 are shown as extending outwardly of the box I through adjustable journal bearings whereby the spacing between the rolls may be varied and are illustrated as being each provided with a pulley on its outer end designated by the numerals 21" and 33'. A prime mover, such as an electric motor 35, is conveniently disposed beneath the top end of the box il) and is provided with a suitable pulley 35' fixed to the end of its driven shaft and disposed in the vertical plane common to the pulleys 21' and 33'. An endless belt 36 operatively engages the pulley 35', passes under an adjustable idler 31, about the lower pulley 21' in the forward set of scrubbing rolls, thence rearwardly and upwardly about the upper pulley 21' in the second set of scrubbing rolls, thence forwardly, downwardly and aboutthe lower pulley 21 of said second set of scrubbing rolls, thence rearwardly beneath and upwardly about the lower pulley 33' in the forward set of drying rolls, thence upwardly and forwardly to engage about the upper pulley 33 of said forward set of drying rolls, thence rearwardly above and about the upper pulley 33' of the second set of drying rolls, and finally forwardly and downwardly about the lower pulley 33 of said second set of drying rolls and returns to the pulley 35. This arrangement serves to drive all but one of the scrubbing and dryingrolls, and to complete the driving arrangement a second pulley 21' is mounted on the shaft of the lower scrubbing roll 21 in the second set of such rolls and is directly connected by an endless belt 33 with the pulley 21 associated with the upper scrubbing roll in the first set.

The shafts supporting the rollers 23 extend through adjustably-mounted journal bearings and the upper shaft in the first and last set of said rollers is provided with a chain sprocket 33, as is the lower shaft in the middle set of said rollers. An endless chain 4D engages about the sprockets 39 of the end sets and passes beneath the sprocket 33 of the middle set of rollers 23 to positively drive one of said rollers in each set at a uniform speed, said chain 40 preferably passes over an idler 4| disposed as a tension takeup and beneath a driving sprocket carried by a jack shaft 42 disposed transversely beneath the box i0 adjacent the motor 35. The shaft of the said roll supports a chain sprocket 43 of relatively large diameter which is operatively connected by means of an endless chain 44 with a driving sprocket carried adjacent the sprocket 33 on the shaft of the upper roller 23 in the first set, the relative size of the sprocket 43 and the sprocket with which it is associated in driven relation being so selected as to rotate the relatively larger said roll 20 at an angular velocity considerably less than that of the relatively smaller roller 23 so as' to insure that the peripheral speed of said elements will be the same. The jack shaft 42 may conveniently be driven from the motor 35 through the agency of a pulley 45 fixed to the end of the shaft supporting the lower rearward drying roll 33, and endless belt 43 operatively connecting the pulley 45 with a relatively larger pulley l1 carried by an idler shaft to said shaft 42. The arrangement which is described provides a speed-reducing system operable to actuate the roll 20 and ,rollers 23 with a peripheral speed considerably less than that of the rolls 21 and 33.

As is indicated in Figure 3, two valves are provided in the pipe between the source of cleaning solution 23 and the spray heads 24, the valve most nearly adjacent the supply 23 being designated by the numeral 5I and the valve nearest the box I0 being designated by 52. The rinsing solution or water supplied to the spray heads 3| is delivered through a pipe 53 which is provided with a valve 54, and a branch 55 of the pipe 53 communicates through a valve 53 with the pipe 25 between the valves 5I and 52, so that, when the valves 52 and 53 are opened, water or rinsing solution from the pipe 53 may be discharged through the spray heads 24 to clean said heads and the compartment which they serve. With the arrangement of pipes and valves indicated in the drawing, cleansing solution may be supplied, when desired, to either or both of the sets of spray heads 24 and 3l, and, similarly the valves may be manipulated to supply rinsing solution or clear water to either or both said sets of spray heads.

In the operation of the apparatus constructed, assembled, and driven as shown and described, slats I3 supplied to the table I3 are automatically fed within and through the box I0, where they are successively subjected to a spray oi cleansing solution, scrubbed in opposite directions, rinsed, wiped. and dried through two sets of drying and polishing brushes, the cleaned slats being deposited exteriorly of the machine for collection and use as may be convenient. The apparatus is readily adaptable to the cleaning of slats of various sizes, specific shapes, and specific nishes, the brief time during which the slat is sub jected to moisture having no ill effect on slat finishes, fabric coverings, and the like.

Since many changes, variations, and modifications in the specific form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of 1. In slat-cleaning apparatus having a closed, elongated housing, a feed aperture transversely and centrally of one end of said housing, a discharge aperture transversely and centrally of the other end of said housing in alignment 1ongitudinally of said housing with said feed aperture, a plurality of partitions spaced transversely of said housing to form separate, successive compartments therein, and apertures in said partitions aligned with said feed and discharge apertures to form a passage longitudinally through the compartments of said housing, paired feed rollers in said compartments of said housing arranged to frictionally engage and feed slat elements through said compartments and the apertures in said partitions, a friction roll supported for rotation on and exteriorly of the feed end of said housing with its lower margin tangent to the passage through said housing, means for supporting stacked slats with their upper elements yieldably engaging against the lower margin of said friction roll, and means for rotating said feed rollers and saidfriction roll at a common peripheral speed and in a direction to feed slat elements through said housing.

2. In apparatus of the character described having a closed, elongated housing, an altitudinally-adjustable, resiliently-supported feed table at one end of said housing, a receiving bin at the other end of said housing, spaced partitions transversely dividing said housing into separate. successively-arranged compartments. and transverse apertures centrally of said partitions and the end walls of said housing aligned to form a continuous passage longitudinally through said compartments from said feed table to said bin. means for feeding slat elements from said table through said passage and to said bin, said means comprising paired feed rollers in certain compartments of said housing aligned with the transverse apertures defining said passage and ar- "ranged to frictionally engage and feed slat ele- 

